Most Popular Posts

Motherhood Mondays: Would you find out if you were having a boy or a girl, or keep it a surprise?

My darlings, if you were pregnant, would you want to find out if you were having a boy or a girl, or would you keep it a surprise?

When I was pregnant with Toby, I was on pins and needles; I would never have had the willpower to wait to find out the baby's sex. I'm a huge gossip by nature (never tell me a secret!), and I wouldn't have been able to wait patiently for nine whole months for the gender reveal. (Funnily enough, though, if we have another baby, I think I would want to wait, just to try it both ways! Can you imagine how exciting it would be while you were in labor?)

Here's a cute video of a couple finding out their baby's sex. They asked their doctor to write down "boy" or "girl," and without looking, they gave the piece of paper to a baker. Then the baker made a cake—with either blue cake for a boy, or pink cake for a girl—covered with white icing. Finally, that night, the couple invited friends and family over while they cut the cake...and revealed the cake color!

What about you, my lovelies? Would you prefer to wait, or would want to find out? If you have kids, did you know their sexes ahead of time? I'm so curious...

289 comments:

Like you, I don't think I could ever have the patience to wait! I would be so excited to find out. However, I can totally see how it is such a beautiful surprise and could give someone an extra little oomph during labor to get that baby out. ps-keep the Toby pictures coming. He is the sweetest little man;)

My friend Jill told me this weekend about a couple she knew that asked the ultrasound tech to write the sex and put it in an envelope. They went to a baby store, picked out a blue and a pink outfit, and had the cashier open the envelope and ring up the appropriate outfit. I've never heard of that one before!We are the opposite of you - I didn't find out for my first pregnancy, and I'm very glad I didn't. It was an amazing moment to hold Archer in my arms and discover what he was myself. But I do think I might like to find out for the second one. We'll have to wait and see how I feel when I'm pregnant again, I guess!

I loved the surprise of the birth of our first daughter. It was so much fun to wonder (and suspect). As adults we have so few good surprises in our lives - this was the best ever. When pregnant with our second child the "big sister" wanted to know if she was going to have a brother or sister so we found out. Even knowing it was a girl she insisted that is was a duck :) It was just a wonderful to know and plan in ways we couldn't for the first. All good! xo

If it were my first baby, then I have to know. I just think everything is so new in terms of your body, how you feel, becoming a new mom, etc. Now with my second baby, I think I want it to be a surprise. It just creates a whole new element of excitement. I'm such a big planner, so I don't know if I could stand it, but I would try!!

i'm having baby number two in about three weeks and we decided to wait to find out this time and i have to tell you. IT'S KILLING ME! the closer i get, the harder it is. i look at this ginormous belly as i waddle around and wonder wonder wonder. we found out as soon as possible with my daughter and this time i wanted to experience the excitement of hearing "it's a....." at the delivery. funny thing is that my friends and family are more upset about not knowing than we are. they don't understand at all.

What a cute idea! I heard of a couple who had their doctor write down the sex of the baby and then the couple opened it on Christmas morning. I probably wouldn't be able to wait either, like you, but it would be fun to find out in a clever way. :)

We waited both times. In my first pregnancy I would have found out, but my husband was adamant that we not. We had a girl and I was thrilled. The second time I didn't want to know either - I loved not knowing and the surprise in the delivery room. The first time I just KNEW I was having a girl and the second time I had absolutely no idea, and that was my son. One of life's great surprises! Though as my friend says, it is a surprise whether you hear at 18 weeks or in the delivery room!

I found out for both of my pregnancies... to me, it's like a 2 for 1! One big surprise in the middle and a great big one at the end! I like being prepared, and it didn't make their births any less exciting... That being said, if I were to have another, I might wait to find out... but only because I already have 1 of each, and would have enough gender-specific essentials to start off with! lol

I had to find out the sex of my son. I wanted pink frilly things ready for a girl and blue and plaid things ready for a boy. Like you, I think it would be fun to wait on the second baby. It would make the labor and delivery process that much more rewarding. :)

My best friend is expecting at the end of August and decided not to find out. They said it's the only real surprise you ever get in life.

Unfortunately, their families and a lot of their friends have given them an incredibly hard time about it, saying it's mean of them not to find out and that they're denying everyone the chance to buy them cute baby stuff. I personally think it's great and will make Baby S' arrival all that much more exciting :)

Before I was pregnant, I always swore that I would want to know because like you, I didn't think I would have the patience to wait. And then, when we found out we were expecting somehow I really didn't want to know the gender. It was great fun for our family and friends to guess if boy or girl and for us, it made the pregnancy all the more exciting especially as we approached our due date. The day I went into labour I gave birth to the best surprise in the world!(and I think I will do the same for baby #2!).

I most definitely want to be suprised! I have always dreamed of that moment when the doctor says, "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!" There aren't THAT many suprises in life...and I think that would be such a magical one! Xoxo

ps: oh, and the funny thing is that when I gave birth, we didn't find out until a few minutes after our baby was born because the midwives are so used to people knowing the gender, they forgot to announce it! So we found out byn looki g ouselves. Even more exciting! :)

We are recently pregnant and will not be finding out. At the very least it will help us curb everybody's impulse to buy us a lot of gender-themed clothes that we don't have room for, and surprises are nice!

i am due in september with my first and we are not finding out the sex. I am the QUEEN of surprises. i love giving them and I love getting them. the anticipation is so much fun, How many surprises will be this big in my life? i love that this is a future unknown in my life. i guess i do have a lot of willpower. if my xmas presents were under the bed ...i would NEVER even peek, because the worst is a spoiled surprise!

We didn't find out the gender before having our baby last October. My husband and I were both so sure that it was a boy that nobody said anything after he was delivered. For the first few seconds, everyone forgot we didn't know and just kept saying the baby looked wonderful. I had to ask if it was a boy or a girl.

We waited the whole nine months. It wasn't hard for us. I loved not knowing (even though I was curious of course), because it added to the magic of the pregnancy. I don't know quite how to explain. However, I was pretty sure it was going to be a boy. So when I found out I had a girl, I laughed and felt so overwhelmed. It was wonderful! Next time (hopefully) I'll wait again. PS: to me, it felt like the pain of labor was eased (just a tiny tiny bit!) by the thought of almost finding out my baby's gender.

There are so few true surprises in life, and I for one love surprises. We didn't find out the sex for both our girls, and it was wonderful, especially the anticipation.

Another thought is that if you are really, truly hoping for a boy or a girl, and then you find out that you are having the other, why would you want to feel one ounce of disappointment, because after labor, you are all BABY, no matter boy or girl!

I am pregnant with #1, and we find out the gender of the baby on Thursday! I cannot wait. I don't think I would have the patience on the first child to not find out. I am too excited to start decorating the nursery :)

We waited and I must say it did help in the delivery! I needed to know....this really motivated me! We had a boy! I was pretty sure the baby was a boy as he came to me in a dream......months before his due date! It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO exciting!

i found out with both of my babies. first my daughter, then my son:). my husband is terrible waiting for surprises. i end up giving him all his presents before xmas, his birthday, valentines-- it's impossible to keep him in suspense!

With my firstborn we were dying to find out but she never cooperated during the ultrasounds until it was almost time to give birth. By then I had already waited so long, we decided to be surprised. I was so happy to hear "It's a girl!" when she made her arrival back in December of 2000. With my other two kids we found out as fast as we could (girl and boy).Petra

Great video! Like you, we found out with our first pregnancy, but have agreed that next time, we will wait and be surprised at the end. The first time around we just couldn't stand the suspense, but I'd really like to hold out next time and experience the big surprise in the delivery room!

I had a baby girl 9 months ago, and didn't know she was a girl until labor when my husband screamed "It's a LITTLE GIRL!!!!". It was amazing, and me and my husband both agree that we'll do it the same way for our next baby. It's natures biggest surprise - and finding out in advance (for me) is like opening a christmas gift before christmas ;)

But... Deep inside I knew all along and called my daughter by her name throughout the pregnancy.

i think it's fun not to know! i just want to be excited about having a baby... when my sister-in-law was pregnant, her mom insisted she was having a boy, because in portuguese culture a baby girl will steal all your beauty while she's growing inside you, but with a boy you'll keep your beauty. my sister stayed gorgeous during her pregnancy, and sure enough now we have a little nephew! i'd love to hear everyone's predictions about my pregnancy (although i hope no one guesses it's a girl because i'm ugly!)also, i've taken a number of developmental psychology classes, and studied case-studies about how parents are affected who were told they were having one or the other, and then found out the doctor had made a mistake! i think it would be so weird to mentally prepare all those months for a boy, and then find out that the doctor has "mistakenly" seen something that wasn't actually there (or the other way around!)ps, did you know there's a couple in toronto that isn't revealing the gender of their now-born baby? i think s/he's about 8 months old now, and they have decided to let the baby define it's own gender/sexual boundaries. very interesting, and has been a little controversial around here!

We didn't know for either baby. After two natural labors (the second one at home) finding out their gender was the most delicious thing I could have imagined! My husband told me the gender of our first as we were finally holding him in our arms... Maybe the most special moment in our entire (very lovely) marriage.

While I think this is cute, it also makes we think about HOW MUCH value we place on gender. Before the baby even takes its first breath the parents are concocting all these gendered scenarios in their minds of what a boy would be like or a girl would be like.

My husband and I thought it would be fun to wait but our family felt differently. We asked the ultrasound tech to write it and place it into an envelope. We then took the envelope to Papa Johns and had them write it in pepperoni's on a pizza. We had all our friends and family over for a huge pizza party and we all found out together that we are expecting a sweet baby boy! It was so fun to share the surprise with all of our loved ones!

Oh My! For my first child I'd think I'd DEFINITELY wanna find out... so I could prepare and buy the right color stuff :D I like how this time around Tori Spelling is waiting to be "surprised" Heck... she already has a boy AND a girl! So this one is just the surprise baby!

I would HAVE to know. I don't have kids and I've never really been around babies so I would be completely lost to start off with and I would feel the need to prepare some kind of way. I think not knowing would only add that much more stress to the whole situation. Plus, I'm way too impatient to hold off not knowing for that long lol

AHHH!! That video made me so excited to find out what we're having! I'm 15 weeks along right now. My next appointment is a week from tomorrow. Hopefully the lil beignet will spread em wide during the ultrasound!

my friends were at the right time just before christmas, so they had the tech write the sex on a piece of paper, they went to baby gap and picked out blue & pick clothes, had the clerk look @ the paper and charge for the correct outfit, and they opened the gift at their family's christmas gathering! THAT was cute!

I reeeeeally wanted to find out, but I loved the idea of everyone ELSE being surprised. My husband and I (and a couple of close friends I could talk to so I didn't go CRAZY) were the only people who knew. I'd say 98% of our family and friends thought we were having a boy, and it was so fun to see everyone's surprise and delight when our daughter was born. :)

I am pregnant now, only 17 weeks. However, I had the chromosone test done at 13 weeks after being told I was high risk for having a child with Down Syndrome. After they told me all chromosones were normal (!!) they said they could tell me if it was XY or XX if we wanted to know. I said HELL YES!!!

We kept it a surprise and could not have been happier with waiting! Its the most incredible surprise gift ever! We went with a neutral theme nursery and items. And friends and family graced us with tons of baby boy outfits while we were still in the hospital! Good thing too, because he was too big for newborn outfits! We will keep on being surprised with future babies! ;)

We tried finding out with our first child but our daughter wouldn't have any of it as she would not face us! So all we saw was her back and we couldn't find out the sex and had to wait until her birth. She's 8 years old now and that is so like her personality - so defiant! As for our second pregnancy, we went to find out the sex and our son was very compliant and accomodating, which is very much like his personality now.

We are expecting our first baby in November, and are waiting for the big day to find out... I have always thought i would like to wait - you have waited your whole life to have this baby - what is a few more months? :)

Plus - it is a fairly recent technology that even makes it possible before the baby is born, and I like to feel a little bit like my mom and her mom did when they were expecting their babies... They had to wait! :)

Sounds like your mom didn't even know she was having twins fairly far into her pregnancy, never mind the sex of the babies, Joanna, and she survived! :)

I don't really understand when others give the expecting moms a hard time over this - "denying them an opportunity for shopping for cute things"? that is a silly argument...

In any case, everyone (friend, family, even complete strangers!)seems to be pleased when we tell them that we are waiting for the big day to find out - we haven't encountered one person (yet! :) who was upset by this...

Looks like now it is more common than not to find out if it a boy/ girl early, so people are welcoming a little bit of mystery and surprise into their lives :)

With our first baby, the ultrasound technician accidentally told us that out baby was a boy (we had waited until 37 weeks and then found out that way!). With our second baby, I really wanted to know so we found out (another boy). And with the third baby... I REALLY didn't want to know, so we were surprised (a girl!). And I must say, having done it both ways, it's SOOOO fun to be surprised. Definitely worth the long wait!

Ah what an awesome way to find out!! It would be so exciting doing that in front of family and friends. I don't think I could ever wait a whole 9 months. I would want the nursary to be all decorated and kitted out in either a little girl or little boy theme.

I'm almost six month pregnant with our third child and we're waiting to find out. We found out with both of our first - and have a boy and a girl now. So, we have the clothes and stuff for either! So exciting to wait - and I swear, I NEVER thought I'd be one to wait, but now that we are, it's actually really fun! If we had two of the same gender though, I'm pretty sure we would have found out at the ultrasound!

My mum didn't find with any of us (although by my little sister - her fourth - she was sure it was a girl.) I think I would want to do the same thing! Plus, I think not finding out encourages people to give you gender-neutral things, which is nice if you plan on having more than one baby :) But as I'm not married (or even dating!) at the moment, I guess I've got a while until I have to decide for sure ;)

I'm due in mid-October (hello third trimester!!) and although I thought I would have the patience to wait until the baby was born to find out if it was a boy or girl, once I found out I was pregnant, that went right out the window and I counted down the minutes until our 20 week ultrasound! We're very happy to be having a sweet little boy (we're naming him Kalen) and I can't wait to meet him!

i don't know if i'd want to find out or not! i guess we'll wait and decide when there's actually a baby in my tum. but @martha, i've heard of that too. where you pick out a boy and a girl outfit and have the cashier secretly wrap up the right one. i love that idea! but what would you do about paying for it? wouldn't you know based on the price you get charged? we need to find a remedy to this.

I am 9 weeks away from giving birth to my first child and my husband and I chose to keep the gender a surprise. The closer and closer we get to my delivery date, the more and more I want to know! How silly am I? My husband really wants to keep it a surprise though, so we will - because like yourself, I can't keep a secret either!

ohhh such a good question! I really think that not knowing your baby's gender till birth is one of the few surprises life/nature offers us. But honestly I am so split 50/50 on it! I am not pregnant yet, but my husband and I plan on trying in about a year and so i do wonder what we will end up doing! keeping it a secret or finding out during the pregnancy. While i really would love to be surprised, i would also really want to know! aaahhhh i think the suspense would drive me so batty! But like i said, i would love to have such a surprise! So right now, i think it is one of those things that we will decide when we actually get to that bridge. I bet what will end up happening is for baby no.1 we will find out beforehand, and for baby no. 2 we will keep it a surprise.

Awesome and sweet video! I want it to be a surprise, I don't want to know. Of course I say that now, never having been pregnant. But I would love to experience the joy and surprise in the delivery room.

I didn't find out for both. I have two boys. The pregnancies were both completely different. I had an easy wonderful pregnancy the first time and a much more difficult time with lots of sickness the second time around. Everyone thought my second pregnancy was a girl, so much that one of my best friends bought all girl's clothing for my shower. I loved not knowing and we're hoping to try for a third; we won't find out for this one either.

We decided to find out with our first. We had two ultrasounds and each time they told us girl. I had two girl baby showers, bought the pink paint for the walls, and ordered more girly things to be shipped. At 37 weeks we had an ultrasound just to check baby's position... and it was a boy. Yep, 100% boy. Had to return over $1000 at Babies-r-us, re-call all the relatives, and get used to the idea that no girl ever existed with only 2 weeks before he was born.It's one of those things you think could never happen to you. But I'm here to tell you it can!

Wow! First, this cake idea is so sweet and fun! Maybe I'll do this if I have any more babies! ;) And yes, I would absolutely find out. I like to have as much control over things in my life as possible, and if I can find out the sex of my child (I did for both of my daughters) I will just so everything will be bought, planned and prepared for where possible! Plus, my school of thought is that there are so many things that a pregnant woman knows could go wrong (thank you internet for the overload of info) and finding out the sex is so big that it gives you something good to focus on for all those months instead of the other stuff.

My favorite way of handling finding out the gender of a baby was what my sister and brother in law did: they found out and kept it a secret from everyone else. My sister wanted to make sure her baby had a variety of clothes and colors not just the generic pink or blue. She only gave away the secret twice: once on accident and then when she was nearly due she told some close friends.

I think I would either wait to find out or keep it a secret that only my husband and I would know.

I think when I get pregnant someday, I want the doctor to write it down and put it in an envelope. Then I'll give it to my mom and let her be the one to read it and tell us. I think it would be so special and emotional for all of us! I'd be way too impatient to wait till the baby was born :P Great subject!

Coming from the stand point as someone who doesn't have kids, I really hate it when people don't find the sex of the baby before hand. My brother-in-law and his wife, and my best friend decided not to find out and it was really frustrating for everyone except them. I wanted to make quilts, clothes, blankets but couldn't because they all didn't like gender neutral colors. I'm crafty and I'd like to make something special for people close to me but I ended up having nothing when those babies were born.

We definitely wanted to know. We were asked why we wouldn't want it to be a surprise. My husband responded, "Well, we'll be surprised at 20 weeks!" When we saw our little boy proudly displaying "the goods" we were so thrilled. We didn't know how to respond--so we high-fived.

I'm not a good decision maker, so I dreaded picking a name. I only wanted to pick out one, so that's why I wanted to know. Also, it gave me a chance to talk to him and address him by name before he was ever born.

I can see the fun in keeping it a surprise. However, I didn't need any extra motivation to push that baby out. ;)

I don't have any kids... yet, however I am very torn on this issue. I am a very impatient person and can see myself wanting to know what the sex of my future baby is. I really want to wait though. I think it really makes the birth special.

We found out with our girl. We already had names picked out... Mary or Paul. Our ultrasound tech was named Mary, so that was a sweet coincidence. We'll probably find out with all future babies too. I see it as a "surprise" whichever way you go (but seriously, how much of a surprise is a 50/50 chance?), but I'd probably lean towards wanting one gender over the other, so I'd prefer to know before delivery.

We wanted to be surprised on our baby's gender because, like many other posters, we thought it was such a rare true 'surprise' and a great labor incentive (as if you needed another!) But what ended up being the best reason to wait--and one we didn't expect--was that my husband had the honor of breaking the news to our families waiting anxiously for the news in the waiting room. My room was near enough that I could hear the joy in his voice when he shouted "It's a girl!" and hear everyone cheer--my eyes are tearing now just thinking about it! By default, so much of the pregnancy and delivery was centered around me, it was neat that he had this important moment with our families to call his own. We're expecting our second in Feb/2012 and will be surprised again. Can't wait!

We have two children (a girl who is 3 1/2 and a boy who just turned 1) and we did not find out the gender beforehand with either child. I really felt like the anticipation was half of the fun and it truly is one of the only positive surprises in life! Plus, I felt like I was getting all of the attention while I was pregnant and this was an opportunity for family and friends to be excited to see my husband when he came to the waiting room to announce the baby's arrival!

I think I would want to know unless I didn't care AT ALL one way or another. If I had a boy and kind of wanted a girl, I would want to know early that I was having a boy. (NOT that I would ever be unhappy having a 2nd boy, but I would want to prepare myself (and the room) to fully and wholeheartedly welcome him and not even have the tiniest tinge of disappointment if I din'd have a girl.) I completely understand how people would love the surprise!

There's no way I would have been able to wait with my son. I think since he was the first kid, I was SUPER nervous about everything and wouldn't have been able to handle suspense. I also think with a first kid I would have built up too many expectations based around gender. That being said, I think I've mellowed out and if there's a next time I'd like to be surprised.

i had toyed with the idea of waiting until the baby is born, but now that we've found out that we're having identical twins, i DEFINITELY need to know! picking out 2 names beforehand will be a lot easier than 4 (2 boys, 2 girls) plus in my mind i've been alternately referring to them as "the boys" or "the girls."

We waited to find out with ours (I could have gone either way but husband really wanted the surprise). I do have to say, I'm not-so-secretly glad we didn't find out early if it had been a girl because I can just imagine the barrage of pink baby stuff we would have gotten. I am not a huge fan of pink. Turns out we had a boy, so I avoided that problem!

I'm due in December and actually find out the sex tomorrow. The thing is though, we're not going to tell anyone. My father actually suggested it and my husband really latched onto the idea of having some part of the pregnancy to ourselves.

It's an effort to give ourselves a little more intimacy around the pregnancy. So far, it seems like everyone wants to know and have input on every detail and it would just be nice to have something for ourselves.

There's also the nice side effect of curbing people who talk about ALL the stuff they are going to buy. I do appreciate the effort, but just struck me as odd that the first reaction that people have when they think about boy/girl is what they can buy it.

And the reason we're finding out? I'm a planner, so I wanted to know. It has nothing to do with the nursery or clothing (I already have everything picked out in white/yellow/green). I need my expectations to be set accordingly even if my actions won't be any different.

oh my gosh that video was SO sweet! she was ecstatic haha :-) that is an awesome way to reveal the gender!

i'd probably wait until maybe the 3rd trimester because i don't like the color pink and if i were having a girl it'd be hard to get people to avoid that.......but there's time for all the business later (23 and single!) :D

Like Eleanor above, I was fairly easy either way but my husband wanted the surprise with our firstborn. we had a boy! 14 Months later when we found out we were expecting twins there was no contest, we found out the sex as soon as we could......they were identical girls!

We didn't find out with my first two kids and I loved it. It was sooo awesome to find out when they were born.... with my son (my second) no one even announced it, so I saw for myself that he was a boy. I am now pregnant with my third and we are waiting for this one as well. If I DID find ou the gender, I would definitely do a fun gender reveal, like the cake or something of that sort!

I'm due with our first baby in about 3 weeks and we have no idea! It's so nice to have a surprise, and I'd be delighted either way. I kinda feel that if you know everything about the baby before it's born, and you've picked the name already, there's not much of an announcement when the time comes, and the only surprise is how much it weighed!

i would definitely want to know. i am such a planner... everything would be decorated according to the sex. and clothes shopping would be all done ahead of time. plus, it's easier for people to pick out baby gifts haha.

We knew right away that we would want to know the sex. We shared it with everyone but we kept her name to ourselves. It was so nice to be able to refer to the baby by her name when we actually chose it. We would talk to her and we made our plans like always and talked about her almost like she was already here. For us it was less about planning since we waited until I was about to explode to actually start getting her room together and more about thebonding that I thought we would have knowing the sex.

On the flip side, my sister and BIL chose to be surprised with both of their babies and it was so wonderful guessing. My sister and I were pregnant together and we would loved to guess what the babies would do. I knew mine was a girl but we kept saying that they would be best friends and if hers was a boy, he'd be her protector and like a brother. Now we have three girls between us and it is amazing. I can relate to what Meredith said about her husband from the receiving end...it was so amazing both times when my BIL came into the waiting room and told us what the baby was. The second time we were convinced it was a boy and it was so fantastic and exciting to find out we were all wrong! I can see the fun and benefits of both but I think that if we have another we would find out again...

how funny! i was just talking with my mother in law and my husband about this. we are not pregnant but in the future we were saying how fun it would be to be surprised. i think that's what we'll do! ;)

I want the surprise of knowing the sex only at birth but my hubby to be is not at a big fan of that idea. He says he wants to plan accordingly, whatever that means. I've already decided on my gender-neutral bedroom theme which is neither yellow nor green, so there goes his planning. ;)

We are waiting!!!! Two days before the ultrasound we decided to be patient and enjoy the excitement (and exhaustion) on delivery day...this November! I am designing a gender neutral nursery and swooning over he and she names. It's our first baby and it is so much fun! I blogged about it here!

I always thought I'd want to be surprised, but did a total 180 when it became a reality. Plus, on the practical side, we're having trouble deciding on names, and this will help us narrow our list a bit :) We find out on Wednesday!

I have had a dream for years to find out once the baby was born. I wanted to meet my baby as a little person and not as a boy or a girl. I think too much emphasis is put on the gender.

I'm now 10 weeks pregnant and surprisingly, the first thing I wondered when I saw the positive test was if I was having a boy or a girl! My husband wants to find out and I still kind of don't, so I don't know what we'll do. Our rule is that we both have to either know or not know. It's too big of a secret to keep from the other!

If we choose to find out we'll do it in a clever way, so thanks for the icing idea!

So we didn't find out with our first (it was a girl, Grace) and it was so much fun to have it be a surprise. We were overjoyed. With the second, although I could have probably waited again, I really wanted to know! Since Grace was already running around like crazy - I needed to be able to plan for the next. I enjoyed it both ways :)

I am due with our first in October. A boy! After years of infertility we were so excited to be pregnant that we had to find out the gender. It gave us something positive to focus on and I think the baby will be enough of a surprise for us.

We did not find out for our first 2 pregnancies. It was hard at the actual utrasound but once back home it was okay again. Then I got pregnant with twins unexpectantly and I had to find out. I had enough surprises by then and I wanted to be more prepared. Since I did it both ways, I must say I do prefer waiting! I am a bit of a traditionalist.

My first was more than 21 years ago so at that time finding out wasn't really an option. So 18 years later(yes 18 years)when I was having my second my husband and I thought we'd let it be a surprise...it was torture, and I did not realize until she was a girl how relieved I was (sounds awful I know but I knew how to raise a girl). When pregnancy number three happened 18 months after number 2 was born and now having 2 girls we needed to know...of course the wee one would not cooperate and we ended up going for a 3D ultrasound just because we had to know...girl number three came along and we were thrilled. We would have loved a boy as well, but we feel like we were meant to be the parents of girls.

my hubby + i decided to wait until the very end {for both kidlets} to see what we were having, although it was tempting to find out! it's one of the few genuine, lovely surprises in life; it's fun to have everyone guessing what sex the baby will be! :)

In India, where my family is from, finding out the baby's sex before its birth is illegal, because of the high rate of female infanticide. Many westerners condemn the practice, which is undoubtedly unjust and tragic, without realizing that the root of this is mostly economic pressures that stem from the era of colonialism. Although I realize that female infanticide is not a big problem in the US, the west's obsession with learning the sex of a baby and celebrating it has always made me very uncomfortable. The underlying fetishization in the west of learning the baby's sex, I believe, is also very pernicious.

Saw this just after we revealed the sex of our baby & wished we would have had a party like this! I just made a little card w/ a blue "It's a Boy" Hershey kiss attached. I heard of someone having a baby shower & everyone but the parents-to-be knew the gender. So they all bought gender specific gifts & when the parents opened their gifts, they found out the sex of their baby! Another fun way to be surprised...if your friends can keep a secret!

If it were up to me only we would have found out, but my husband was adamant that it is the "only true surpise left in life." So I let it go and I was so happy that I did. It was so fun to wonder together throughout the pregnancy. 20 minutes before our little girl was born my husband turned to me and said, "Last chance, what are we having!?" I said a girl and he agreed. We were right! Some of the best moments of my life so far.

Great post. For my first child we didn't find out - I suspected it was a boy and it was. 2nd child (boy) we did find out but didn't tell anyone. Its something everyone asks you while are pregnant so in some ways I wish I hadn't found out. My 3rd child we didn't find out. Given I'd had two boys, I was convinced I was having another boy and was very happy with that. It was a magical surprise to find out at the birth that I had a baby girl. 3 months on I still look at her and can't believe it!

SO sweet! My husband and I are pregnant with baby #2 and we already have a boy and found out we are having a girl. I am pretty sure that we won't find out next time (since we will be prepared for both in regards to clothes). It just seems like SO much work to find out at delivery, I would feel so unprepared when we got home!

with our first daughter we didnt find out and it was the best surprise EVER!! AMAZING!! Then, during our next pregnancy we found out at 15 weeks that it was twins (prob big enough surprise in and of itself :). They were in different sacs so we decided to find out one of the sexes and not the other- that way we could have the best of both worlds!! Def not finding out is the way to go, I think. There is nothing like when they pull that baby out and say "It's a ____!!!" I love it!

I've had three babies and have never found out the sex before giving birth. All I can say is that, for me, it's worth the wait for the magical moment when the baby is born and my husband tells me it's a boy or girl. I love surprises and this is the best one of all!

We waited to find out the gender of our baby...we're old fashioned I guess. And I thought it would be a huge motivator during labor, but in the heat of it all I just didn't care! (I did a natural birth...not by choice. The baby came too fast for drugs!) btw, we had a girl. She's six months now.

My husband wanted to know the gender and I did not, so I got the ruling decision since I was the one carrying! We did not find out until the birth.It was the most special and precious moment when we found out. Our baby was born and the midwife and the nurse did not say the gender out loud. As we marvelled at this little gogeous thing on my chest, I wasn't even thinking about what I had, then the nurse said, "So, what did you have?" I got to look and then said, "It's a boy! It's our boy!" It made the moment even more special that I got to see first and tell everyone particularly my husband.

even though i am a bit of a planner, we had so much fun waiting to find out with our first baby, a boy. you are right -- it provided amazing encouragement and inspiration while i was in labor (and preparing to deliver natural). now that we are expecting again, (15 wks), it feels harder to wait! but i just love a true surprise, so i think we will wait again.

If I get to have another, I want to wait to find out. I have a boy and a girl already. With my first, I was SO eager to find out. With my second, I wanted to find out because I was afraid I would be disappointed if it was a second girl. Now that I have one of each, the next one can be a surprise!

We didn't find out for #1, and like Franglaise (above), it took us awhile to get the nurses in the delivery roon to tell us what we got -- it's pretty much expected that the parents already know!

I'm pregnant with #2 (due in November), and we're doing it the same way again -- mostly for the same reasons (I love surprises, but more importantly, we really didn't want the whole pregnancy weighted with gender-based comments & expectations from everyone we know and strangers on the street).

I have discussed this with my boyfriend. (You know talk about the important things before you take the plunge...) I want to find out the sex of the baby for sure. He would rather be surprised. We decided that we would compromise and find out the sex of the first child because that is the one that you have all the showers and hoopla of decorating the room and buying clothes. And the second child we would wait and be surprised. Great compromise I think!

I didn't know the sex of my children until they were born, I wouldn't change a thing!! I have heard so many mothers announcing on facebook, etc. the sex of their baby to be and sometimes even the name - by the time they have it, it isn't even news. I would say if you must know, keep it a surprise for everyone else!!

My friend, Heather, and her husband had their doctor write down the gender on a piece of paper; then they opened it (privately), that night over dinner. For the "reveal," at her baby shower, she had pink and blue cupcakes. Everyone chose the color THEY thought it was. (I chose pink.) When it was time for the big announcement, Heather held one of each cupcake. And then took a bite of the blue one: A BOY! It was really cute.

As for me, and my future family, I've always *said* I'd like to wait to know the gender, but I'm afraid my curiosity will get the best of me! Plus, I would like to call him or her by his or her name, so there's that. xo.

i didn't find out with my first baby & i loved it! the surprise made labor almost fun & exciting! we couldn't wait to see who our little bean was! i would consider finding out the sex if i knew i was pregs with twins...just for the preparation involved...but i LOVE the anticipation!

Oh my goodness that video made me cry, so cute!! I could never wait the whole nine months, we're definitely finding out when the time comes. Besides I'm too much of a control freak to not know who I am shopping and decorating for.

what a cute idea! then everyone found out together, how sweet! that's a darling video.

we found out with our first two (a girl, then a boy), so with #3, we decided not to. it was so exciting and just added to the anticipation!! i highly recommend NOT finding out. just bring a girl and a boy outfit to the hospital to be ready - pink or blue baby clothes can always be purchased afterward. (we had a girl, by the way) :) we'd love to have one more, so when baby #4 comes along, i think we want it to be another surprise! so fun!

We found out as soon as we could what we were carrying because we hated calling our baby an "it". I work at a bakery and we have had soooo many people ask us to do this same idea for gender reveal parties and I think its just adorable!

I am currently 32 weeks and we're waiting to find out! I always thought it would be fun, and my husband just sort of left it up to me. But as we progressed in weeks, I was like, okay, we need to make a choice, are we going to find out or not? He was like, What?!! We're definitely not finding out! It's so exciting!!I see the benefits of finding out, for sure, but for me personally, I just love surprises, and I love the spontaneity. But like you, maybe next time we'll find out, just to try it out both ways! either way, being pregnant and the thought of having a baby is so amazing and thrilling!!

omg, how absolutely adorable. i teared up and i don't usually do that, haha. residual hormones?

anyway, with my 3 month old daughter, we could barely wait for our big 20 week ultrasound appointment. we both wanted a girl so badly (as did our families, though his family ESPECIALLY) and although we already started to refer to the baby as a she, we couldn't help but think it was probably a boy (which would have been fine too :)). our u/s tech was quick and to the point and immediately confirmed girl. we were shocked but thrilled! i don't think i would have been able to hold out for nine months without knowing...i'm the planner type and would have driven myself crazy if i didn't know what to plan for. but like you, i would consider waiting for the 2nd one, only b/c all of the big things we bought for this baby are pretty gender neutral...if we had a boy we'd pretty much only need clothes :).

I have a feeling I'll want to know for my first...to help with planning since you start from scratch. Or if I am ever pregnant with twins, I'd definitely want to find out...again for preparation. But surprises are fun too!

I have 2 kids. I didn't know the gender of neither one. I loved the "surprise experience" of having them. The not knowing. I couldn't imagine knowing and calling the baby by his/her name for the next 4 mos?!

I'm not sure if I will wait or not, but I WONT be telling any family or friends the gender till the birth if I do. I'm not into the gendered color schemes and clothing and would like to have styles/colors that are gender neutral. It will be first and foremost our BABY, not a girl or boy, because it hardly matters to me either way. Also, we must be aware that there are some babies born intersex that looked one way or the other in ultrasound, but really are a combo. I would not wish to chose for them a gender that they may not identify with later on. So I will wait to even announce a psyiological gender until I know for sure. :P

We are expecting in December and find out in a week and a half what we're having! Because I'm not really a pink or blue person I'm excited to plan the nursery with a fairly gender neutral theme. We have been debating on doing something like that couple did in the video though...

I didn't find out with the first two, and I'm not planning to find out with this one. I'm not sure if I even want to know ahead of time. But mostly, we like to avoid doing sonograms unless they are really needed. I did a one each but early on with my first 2- none so far with this one.When I was in labour, I really didn't care- just was so relieved the baby was out that the midwife had to ask us if we wanted to know what the baby was- and we said- we guessed so, but didn't really care.But, I don't mind gender neutral baby stuff- to quell the complaint of an earlier poster.

I'm due in September and I wanted to know the baby's sex but my husband did not. In the end, I decided to wait too because I think it will be a sweet surprise. Plus, I started out wanting only a girl and I think not knowing has allowed me to imagine both scenarios. And we receive clothes that are green and yellow or neutral, and it's much better than having all pink or all blue stuff.

I have two kids and chose to be surprised. My niece and nephew's wife have just had babies and they also chose to be surprised. We are overjoyed because my niece had a boy and my nephew's wife had a girl! Very cool! xxoo :)

I always said that if I was pregnant I wouldn't find out the sex, but I always had a caveat in case I was pregnant with twins (I have a twin brother) that I would find out.

When I found myself pregnant WITH TWINS, we decided to wait. I had an emergency c-section at 37 weeks (everyone was fine) and, as I was being rolled into the operating room, the anesthesiologist said, "Are we excited to meet your boy and girl??" When she realized we didn't know their sexes, she tried to say she was 'just guessing'. After 37 weeks of doctors appointments and ultrasounds not one person slipped and, literally minutes before they were born someone did!!

It was still one of the biggest surprises of my life!! (I suppose it's one of the biggest surprises no matter when you find out!!)

i already have two girls 4 and 3 years old i found out with both with them, like you i couldn't wait! i am pregnant with number 3 and i thought i might wait this time...but at the 20 week scan i knew what i was looking at...we will soon have a set of 3 girls!

We did not find out with our daughter (only child so far). We have a video of us sitting in the birth tub just seconds after she was born, checking between the legs, and me saying "it's a girl!" You can hear my mom and sisters crying. It is the most special thing. I can't wait to do it again.

honestly, i am a super impatient person. i chose to wait to find out the sex of my child and it was the greatest thing ever! everyone was sure it was going to be a girl -- everyone! even ladies id see on the street.. but nope! we have a gorgeous little boy!!! :)

while we were pregnant we took a birthing class.. we were the ONLY couple who were waiting to be surprised! i couldnt believe it!

The thing is, it's not always up to you. We wanted to find out the sex of our baby & when the time came for the ultrasound the technician couldn't tell because bubs had it's legs crossed and was all curled up. We had 2 more ultrasounds (mostly because they weren't able to get the measurements they needed because of how curled the baby was) and they were still unable to tell. By the time my due date came I was SO EXCITED to find out what was in there finally! The funny thing was when SHE finally came out and the nurse put her on my chest we were so ecstatic about our little baby it was literally about a minute before the nurse asked us "well? is it a boy or a girl?" It was so funny! I loved the surprise and anticipation and if we have another we won't be finding out.

While I think it is totally special to find out the sex of the baby, I don't really understand all this ceremony that goes into revealing the gender. I mean, there's a 50/50 chance either way... That said, we found out the sex of our first daughter ahead of time, then we ended up having a really medical birth (c-section). The second time, we did a total 180 and didn't find out ahead of time, and I ended up having a drug-free birth (Not that there's any correlation!). But we decided to wait the second time because like another poster said, there are so few surprises left in this world!

My husband and I did not find out what we were having, yet the entire time I was pregnant everyone insisted I was having a boy. My mother even bought boy clothes. When the doctor announced we had a girl in the delivery room, I cried because I felt the world made since now. It was the three of us from then on, and no anticipation after. Completely worth the wait, a million times over.

We did not find out our baby's gender and it made for such a fun pregnancy (and delivery, sort of)! Plus, since people couldn't give us with boy or girl stuff we were given a lot of neccessities, like diapers. Next time around I think it will be harder to wait but I can't imagine doing it any differently.

We kept it a surprise... it was my husband's idea at first and I thought I would never be able to wait but then as time went by (and as we got closer to the d-day) I was quite happy not to know, it kind of took away some of my fear of the delivery itself :) During labor though, the hospital staff kept refering to the baby as a 'she' and both my husband and i were looking at each other like they totally blew our surprise, so i couldn't believe it when our little boy arrived !! I would do it again xx

My parents waited to be surprised when my sister was born. Her pregnancy was so similar to the one she had with my brother that my mother "knew" she was having a boy. They were so dumbfounded in the delivery room that my sister didn't have a name for the first 4 days she was alive. lol.

I am pregnant with my fourth. I have three boys already and I am dying to know what this one is (although a bit terrified too!). We have found out with each of our pregnancies and loved it every time.

I have to say though-I am a labor and delivery nurse and have witnessed hundreds of babies being born. Some moms already knew what they were having, and for some it was a surprise. I have NEVER seen ANY mom that was disappointed that she knew or didn't know at the time of birth. Everyone is always beyond happy either way! You just CAN'T LOSE!!

I recently found out two of my friends are expecting (to make it more interesting, one of them found out the day before my wedding and the other the day after my wedding. What a magical time!) and neither of them want to find out the sex of the baby. Personally I think they're both crazy. Of course I want to know! So much to plan for! So many cute things to knit! Sure you can stick with gender neutral colors and themes, but... where's the fun in that?

We found out for our first, but when we got pregnant a second time we decided to keep it a surprise. Imagine our surprise when we went in for the 20 week ultrasound to find out we were having twins!! After that discovery we decided we had a lot to plan for, so we found out our twins were both girls, as is our oldest. With my third pregnancy I knew if it wasn't twins again I wanted it to be a surprise. I must have really thought it was going to be a girl, because when our sweet little boy was born in March, I was shocked! I loved every minute of the suspense, and it was well worth it!!

I've never been pregnant before, so I cannot with certainty what I would do, BUT I hope to have the patience to wait until the birth. My sister waited and we were all on pins and needles dying to know how their family was going to take shape. Plus, I'm hoping it'll be a great motivation to get that little love bug outta there!

hahaa had to giggle when i started getting notices that our video was on your blog- glad so many people enjoyed it! if you like this idea, check out how we found out about #2- http://tupelohoney.tumblr.com/post/5998238931/its-a

also, here is a little back story for the video above- http://tupelohoney.tumblr.com/post/193336124/saturday-night-was-unbelievable

I am by nature a planner and organizer, so I HAD to know so that I could have the nursery appropriately decorated, clothes and accessories purchased and ready, etc. The way I figure, it's a surprise no matter when you find out. However, I have a friend who has had 4 babies, and has found out at delivery all 4 times. She had 3 girls, and then her youngest is a bouncing baby boy!

We found out on the first two and decided on number 3 to make it a surprise. It was amazing! Looking back, I wish we would not have found out on the first two. As I was told, life does not have many surprises as you get older, so why ruin this one?

I'm pregnant right now, so I just went through this. After initially saying I wanted it to be a surprise, I ended up changing my mind when my normally laid-back husband reeeaaaally wanted to find out. Now I'm glad we did, it helps us feel closer to the baby to think of him as a little boy we're growing rather than just an "it" or something. I was surprised by people's negativity toward waiting, though. It seems like they see it as almost selfish that you won't provide them with this information so that they can get crazy with the pink or the blue. Although we know the sex, we've decided to wait to name our little mister until we meet him... we're hearing opinions on that now as well, but we're sticking to our guns!

My first baby is almost 22. Back then we got a picture that resembled "skelator", No way to really know the gender. He has always been a fun spirited joy . Now he is out there trying to save the world.....check out moralfibers.co, A group of young men working to rebuild Haiti through art.

It's actually the "sex" of the baby, not the "gender" you find out. Gender is the range of characteristics, masculine or feminine, learned culturally and socially that distinguish the male sex from the female sex. Sex is the biologically make up of a person.

I really think, I would like to know, especially if it's my first one! Because you have to buy clothes for the baby, decorate the room, and all this stuff that requires you to know the gender! I mean, come on! What are you going to put on the baby shower invitations? "It's a.. we don't know!"hahaha

We have chose both ways. Our first two children we didn't find out the sex of the babies and were nicely suprised. Our first born was an incredibly emotional moment as we had no idea what the child's sex was, As my husband held him we just both cried tears of joy we couldn't believe this little boy was ours! When our daughter was born, my husband cried out said "it's a boy" the midwife replies "look again" and there she was our cherub girl, it was an amusing moment. Our third we chose to find out the sex and I loved that as a different experience. We knew he would be our last so we wanted to be prepared and that worked really well for us. Beautiful either way.

When it came up to knowing my gender, for some reason the doctors had to call my father. My mother initially wanted to know, but when my father came up to tell her, she refused and decided to keep the surprise until my birth. So my father was the only one to know, and was secretly buying (somewhat) girly pajamas for months haha!